Shane Taylor On Being ROH TV Champ, Facing Jeff Cobb

Ring of Honor star Shane Taylor recently spoke with “The Pop Break”. During the interview, he talked about what it felt like to be the Ring of Honor Television Champion, and his upcoming match against Jeff Cobb. Here are the highlights:

On Wanting To Carry The ROH TV Title Into G1 Supercard:

Man, that’s everything. I can barely even put that into words. When you talk about the lineage and the history, you’re talking about, first and foremost guys like: Matt Taven, Jay Lethal, Kenny King Silas Young, Marty Scurll. The legacy of that championship is, arguably at times, been more important than the ROH World title.

To me that is the workhorse championship. That’s the guy that’s gonna go out there and deliver every single night. No matter what. Hurt. Sick. Tired. Doesn’t matter. And that’s exactly who I want to be. And even more importantly walking into Madison Square Garden with that championship, you’re talking about, a guy from the East Side of Cleveland, Ohio who was supposed to be a statistic.

Who wasn’t supposed to be anything, coming from nothing. And walking into MSG as the Ring of Honor Television Champion — Hollywood couldn’t write a better story. It’s very important to me in this re-match with Jeff Cobb to end his undefeated streak, and take that championship. It’s also important because I want to silence everyone from the critics to the smart ass fans that tell me what I do and don’t deserve, to anybody in the office that doesn’t think that I’m the man.

My goal is to prove that I am the man and in one fell swoop shut everybody’s mouth.

On His Match Against Jeff Cobb:

As far as agility and things like that go, people can see what Cobb can do. The guy can do moonsaults, the guy can fly around with the best of them. So when it comes down to technique and things of that sort, I think we match up well — strength vs. strength. I think we match up well.

Agility for agility as well. The difference in this match is going to be my striking versus his grappling. Can I keep distance? Can I keep him at the end of my shots? Can I not let him tie me up? If I can do that, then I have a great chance of wining.

There’s not too many people that can stand at the end of my shots and just take those for 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, however long it is. Eventually they’re gonna go down. So my job is to keep throwing until he does.

On Advice He’d Give Young Wrestlers:

That’s such a tough question, because just like any other sport you can train and do everything in high school, but it doesn’t really prepare you for college. You have to get your reps there to be ready for it. Same thing when you go to the pros. ROH is no different. From just mastering your fundamentals and getting a great base, that’s what helped me.

When you get to ROH you’re dealing with the best talent in the world. But until you’re there on that stage, there’s nothing that can get you ready for those moments. There’s no amount of swings in the batting cage that’s gonna get your ready for the majors. You have to have time in the box.

The only thing that prepares you for being there, is being there. For anybody that’s looking to come up, find a great place to train. Find people that believe in you and surround yourself with positive energy. Then be ready to hear “no ” a million times. But have enough confidence in yourself to be who you think you are. Some of the greatest to ever do it have been told by somebody they’re not gonna make it.

Whether it be Cena, Austin, Taker, Bret Hart, they’ve all been told they don’t have what it takes, but here we are. As long as you’re doing what you’re doing, you’ll be alright.